Sweetman Fined $600 For Pro-education Flier

October 12, 1995|By ROSALINDA DeJESUS; Courant Staff Writer

HARTFORD — Regional School District 17 Superintendent Charles F. Sweetman Jr. must pay a $600 fine for authorizing the expenditure of district money on a pro-education flier before a budget referendum.

During a meeting Wednesday, state Elections Enforcement Commission members unanimously agreed on the fine, which Sweetman must pay by Monday.

Jim Mathias, senior legal investigator for the commission, said Wednesday's fine is the highest the commission has imposed for a violation of section 9-369b of state statutes. The maximum fine is $1,000.

Philip W. Evans of the Killingworth Taxpayers Association filed a complaint with the commission in May after finding one of the fliers on his car window at the town transfer station.

The two-sided flier, distributed by Killingworth Citizens for a Strong Community, listed cuts to the school budget, which had been defeated in the May 2 referendum. On the other side, it listed further possible cuts.

Critics say the flier is another example of increasing arrogance on the part of Sweetman and the regional school board. Haddam and Killingworth residents have had multiple school budget referendums each year since 1991; the proposed regional school budget for the current fiscal year has been rejected eight times -- the latest occurring Tuesday.

Nor is this the first time the school official has been fined for violations. In August the state Freedom of Information Commission fined Sweetman and two other school officials $100 each for failing to provide budget documents requested by members of a citizens group.

The flier Evans received was one of two fliers and a memorandum distributed to students and parents throughout the district in May and June.

The commission determined that one of the fliers, the one Evans received, and the memorandum, advocated a position on the referendum. The fliers and memorandum were reproduced using school equipment.

The memorandum, dated June 2, also gave information about budget cuts and tax implications and was released after the regional district's second referendum.

Sweetman could not be reached for comment.

The commission's final report states that Sweetman acknowledged the contents of the flier received by Evans could be interpreted as taking a position on the school budget. Sweetman said, however, that he did not authorize or know about the distribution of the memorandum, given to children by some or all principals in the district.

This was not Sweetman's first appearance before the commission regarding the distribution of fliers. In 1991, the commission gave Sweetman a warning for causing an unintentional violation of the same general statutes because he did not personally review fliers nor authorize their circulation within the district.

This time, however, Sweetman was aware of the distribution of the flier, said Mathias.

According to the commission's findings, Sweetman consulted with Harlan Fredericksen, chairman of the school board's communications committee, to determine whether the flier that Evans ended up receiving was appropriate for distribution. Fredericksen concluded the flier did not advocate a position and was not in violation of a statute.

The commission agreed that, regardless of any advice from Fredericksen, Sweetman's position as the school board's chief executive officer compelled him to comply with the statute.

Evans, who filed the complaint, had little to say after Wednesday's hearing except that he agreed with the commission's findings.

``The process was followed, a decision was made and a fine has been imposed on Mr. Sweetman,'' he said.

John Korab, chairman of Citizens for a Better Haddam, said Wednesday's fine only hurts the cause of Sweetman, who, despite increasing attacks from the citizen groups, was given a one-year contract extension recently by the school board.

``The arrows are shooting at Sweetman,'' he said. ``All I have been hearing is that the budget is going to be turned down year after year until Mr. Sweetman goes.''